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James Diossa
James A. Diossa (born 1985) is an American politician from Rhode Island. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the Rhode Island General Treasurer. He served as a member of the city council and as mayor of Central Falls, Rhode Island, guiding the city after it declared bankruptcy. Early life and educationDiossa's parents were from Medellín, Colombia.[1] They immigrated to the United States, settling in Central Falls, Rhode Island, in 1983.[1] He was born there two years later.[1] His father works for Osram Sylvania. His parents separated and his mother returned to Colombia.[2] Diossa attended Central Falls High School, where he played for the school's soccer team and won a state championship.[2] He graduated in 2003 and enrolled at Community College of Rhode Island.[3] earned his undergraduate degree in criminal justice from Becker College[1] in 2009,[4] becoming the first member of his family to graduate from college.[1] He also played soccer at Becker.[5] CareerInspired by Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and an undergraduate course on government,[2][4] Diossa interned for U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.[4] He ran for election to the city council of Central Falls in November 2009 and won a seat by 17 votes,[6] becoming the youngest city councilor in Central Falls' history.[1] With a $6 million budget deficit and the city's pension fund underfunded by $80 million, the city went into receivership and filed for bankruptcy in August 2011.[2][7] The city's only public library closed, and Diossa organized members of the community to raise enough funds to have it reopened.[1] When the city's sole post office was in danger of closing, he led a march to protest the closure and met with the United States Postmaster General, saving the post office.[1] The city cut jobs and services to come out of bankruptcy in September 2012.[8] Also in September 2012, Charles Moreau, Central Falls' mayor, resigned and pled guilty to federal charges of fraud.[9] Diossa ran in a special election for mayor in December 2012, and won. He took office on January 1, 2013, at the age of 27.[1] Diossa hired an administrative and a financial officer for the city in April 2013.[10] Under Diossa's leadership, Moody's Investors Service upgraded their rating of Central Falls city bonds.[7] Diossa also guided Central Falls through the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.[11] After serving two terms as mayor, Diossa was prevented from running in the November 2020 election due to term limits.[11][12] When Lieutenant Governor Dan McKee was elevated to governor in 2021, Diossa was a candidate to succeed McKee as lieutenant governor. However, McKee instead selected Providence city councilor Sabina Matos.[5] In January 2021, Diossa became a senior advisor at the Rhode Island Innovative Policy Lab at Brown University.[13] President Joe Biden nominated Diossa to the board of trustees for the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation in July 2021.[14] In December 2021, Diossa announced his candidacy for general treasurer of Rhode Island in the 2022 elections, as the incumbent, Seth Magaziner could not run for a third term due to term limits.[15] Diossa defeated Stefan Pryor, the former state secretary of commerce, to win the Democratic Party nomination.[16] He defeated James Lathrop, North Kingstown's finance director, in the general election on November 8.[17] Personal lifeDiossa's fiance, Sandra Cano, served in the Rhode Island State Senate. They have two children together.[18] References
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